Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: A Universe of Fragile Mirrors

This exhibition presents a selection of works by filmmaker and video artist, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (b. 1972, San Juan), including a new work, Marché Salomon (2015). Capturing the ironies of post-colonial conditions in the Caribbean, Santiago Muñoz’s films and videos create connections between experimental film, ethnography, and theater, alluding to material, local, and symbolic histories. She documents specific communities and public sites to generate her own bricolage―an alternative story about a popular Haitian market, a toxic tropical flower, or a newly discovered archeological site in Puerto Rico. Her actors are ordinary people encouraged by the artist to use strategies from performance art and reenactment. Santiago Muñoz develops her works from long periods of observation, documentation, and engagement. Making the camera another character, her lens moves slowly through social and physical landscapes, capturing every detail, color, personal gesture, and movement of light, creating enigmatic stills that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction.

Additional Resources

ART REVIEW: Beatriz Santiago Muñoz Brings Iconoclastic Style to Miami

Munoz explained her iconoclastic style during our interview on February 20, 2016, as we sat inside the darkened Focus Gallery at Pérez Art Museum Miami, where "Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: A Universe of Fragile Mirrors" is on view through November 13, 2016.